The seasonal flu vaccine prevented more than 40,000 flu-associated deaths in the United States during a nine-year period from 2005-2006 through 2013-2014, according to estimates in a new study published in March in the journal Vaccine.

This estimate represents a little less than a one-quarter (22%) reduction in the deaths that would have occurred in the absence of flu vaccination during that time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated previously that seasonal flu-associated deaths in the US range between 3,000 and 49,000 people each year.

While there are no comparable statistics in South Africa, doctors agree that vaccination is an effective preventative tool.

Another new study, by the London School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK (published in the journal PLOS Biology in January 2015), shows that while children can catch flu every other year, adults aged 30 and older only contract the virus roughly twice every 10 years.

Researchers found that flu infection is actually much less common than some people think, and that the flu strains we encounter early in life can activate stronger immune responses than the strains we come across later in life. See here for more on this study: http://www.livescience.com/50020-influenza-a-frequency.html

How Clicks Clinics can help you during the flu season

Book an appointment for a flu vaccination at a Clicks Clinic by calling 0860 254 257 or visiting Clicks Clinics online. The good news is that most medical aids now cover the flu vaccination and sometimes even reward members.